2019 -- H 6246

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LC002892

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXTENDING PROFOUND SYMPATHY ON THE PASSING OF JIM TARICANI

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Mattiello, Shekarchi, Filippi, Blazejewski, and Ucci

     Date Introduced: June 24, 2019

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, It is with great sadness that this House has learned of the passing of Jim

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Taricani, a legendary Rhode Island investigative reporter, and a devoted husband to the love of

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his life, Laurie White-Taricani; and

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     WHEREAS, Born in Newington, Connecticut, Mr. Taricani served in the United States

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Air Force after graduating high school. He had dreams of becoming a musician but developed an

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interest in journalism while attending Central Connecticut State College, and in 1968, received a

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Presidential letter of commendation for helping secure the transfer of Martin Luther King Jr.'s

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assassin; and

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     WHEREAS, In 1974, Mr. Taricani joined the staff at radio station WKRI in West

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Warwick, where his listeners knew him as Jim Roberts because his boss had told him that the

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name Taricani sounded too ethnic. In 1978, he moved to television with station WPRI 12 and

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reclaimed his name; and

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     WHEREAS, The following year, Mr. Taricani moved to WJAR, where he co-founded the

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station's I-Team, and with the exception of a brief one and a half year respite as Press Secretary to

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then-Governor Lincoln Almond, he worked at WJAR until his retirement from news in 2014; and

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     WHEREAS, While he frequently made headlines, Mr. Taricani's journalistic integrity

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became legendary when in 2004, a federal judge convicted him of criminal contempt for refusing

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to reveal the source who had given him an FBI surveillance tape showing a top lieutenant to then-

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Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. accepting an envelope containing a cash bribe; and

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     WHEREAS, Revered by his peers as well as his readers, Mr. Taricani was honored with

 

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five regional Emmy awards as well as an Edward R. Murrow award for investigative journalism.

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He was also the recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Rhode Island in 2018, and

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to honor his memory, a lecture series on First Amendment Rights is being established at the

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University of Rhode Island; and

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     WHEREAS, From a small West Warwick radio newsman to becoming one of Rhode

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Island’s most prominent and respected journalists, Jim Taricani's journalistic and investigative

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career is indelibly imprinted in the hearts and minds of generations of Rhode Islanders and he will

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be dearly missed; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby extends deepest condolences on the passing of Jim Taricani; and

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be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Laurie White-Taricani.

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